13th June 2012: Home Care should be a Statutory Right

The Seanad report on the rights of older people recommends that homecare entitlements should be clarified and put on a statutory footing. This Irish Times article by Patricia Conboy director of Older and Bolder (an alliance of age-sector organisations) is a must read as it provides a clear and concise picture of the currrent state of homecare entitlements in Ireland. It also rightly points out that the vast majority of people in Ireland want to stay in their own home and remain independent and connected to their communities and this could easily be made possible for most people if they had access to just a small amount of home care support. Interesting also how it points out that in Ireland, we have set up the Fair Deal scheme and prioritised the planning of institutional care over home and community care of older people. Why is this when the vast majority of people would like to age at home and this provides a much more cost effective model of care?